News & Resources
The latest Thompson Okanagan tourism industry news from TOTA, tourism businesses, and communities.
Rise of Organic Viticulture in the Okanagan
With more than 150 wineries in the region, the Okanagan Valley has become well-known for its outstanding wines and wine experiences. A growing trend is set to put the Okanagan on the wine map in a new way - as one of the leading producers of organic wines in the world! By the end of 2021, the Okanagan is expected to have 20% of its 8,800 acres of vineyards certified organic, which far outpaces the global organic production rate of approximately 3.6%.
With more than 150 wineries in the region, the Okanagan Valley has become well-known for its outstanding wines and wine experiences. A growing trend is set to put the Okanagan on the wine map in a new way - as one of the leading producers of organic wines in the world!
Organic viticulture and winemaking is certainly nothing new to the region, with producers like Summerhill Pyramid Winery and Beaumont Family Estate producing organic wines for more than 20 years, however, with the recent transition from producers like Mission Hill Family Estate Winery and CedarCreek Estate Winery, the number of organic vineyards has dramatically increased. By the end of 2021, the Okanagan is expected to have 20% of its 8,800 acres of vineyards certified organic, which far outpaces the global organic production rate of approximately 3.6%.
With the overall trend moving towards a more sustainable lifestyle, consumers are looking for simple ways to reduce their impact, including their wine choices. In fact, the global consumption of organic wine doubled between 2012 and 2017 and continues to increase today.
Kelowna Biosphere Committed Members that are also organic wineries:
New Biosphere Committed Members
We are very pleased to welcome two more amazing companies to the Biosphere Commitment Program: Mission Hill Family Estate Winery and Jojo’s Cafe.
We are pleased to welcome Jojo’s Cafe and Mission Hill Family Estate Winery to the Biosphere Committed Member Community!
One of the philosophies of Jojo’s Café is to support local in everything they do. This means supporting local businesses, local art and artists and supporting the environment. Their dark roast is supplied by Rock Creek Trading Post, and the other roasts and espresso beans are supplied by Max Voets Coffee Roasting in Vernon.
Learn more about Jojo’s Cafe here.
The team at Mission Hill Family Estate relentlessly pursues quality at every turn. After being recognized as Canada’s only five-time winner of Winery of the Year and receiving multiple best varietal awards on the international stage, they continue to draw inspiration from the Okanagan Valley. The culinary team also works closely with local, sustainable farmers to source foods and create regionally-inspired dishes paired with wine cultivated from their estate vineyards.
Learn more about Mission Hill Family Estate Winery here.
Pilot Project for Cork Recycling in West Kelowna
Return-It has found a unique way to recycle corks in partnership with SOLE, a company that makes eco-friendly cork footwear. The two organizations have developed a pilot project to collect natural wine corks in West Kelowna at the Boucherie Self Storage & Bottle Depot and repurpose the material, keeping it out of the landfill.
“Cork is a great material. It’s natural and it’s actually a carbon-negative material. It can be repurposed, in this case into new consumer items like footwear, where it can replace petroleum-based foams and plastic.” ~ Allen Langdon, Return-It CEO and president
Not much can beat opening up a bottle of wine on a hot Okanagan summer’s day, and Return-It has found a unique way to save wine corks that are destined to go to the landfill each year. Now, indulging in the fruits of the valley is that much sweeter because of a pilot program resulting from a partnership between Return-It and SOLE, a company that makes eco-friendly cork footwear.
“This really hasn’t been done before, where you try to collect cork from the public on such a large scale,” said Allen Langdon, Return-It CEO and president. “We are going into it not knowing what to expect but I think at the end of the day, the ultimate objective is keeping this material out of the landfill.”
The pilot program will run until December 2021. If successful, it will be expanded across B.C.
Sovereign Lake Nordic Club Commits to Living Wage
Sovereign Lake is the first ski area in Canada to make a commitment to help end working poverty, by paying all its staff and contracted workers a living wage. A living wage is the hourly amount a family needs to cover basic expenses.
Sovereign Lake Nordic Club becomes first ski area in Canada to guarantee a living wage
The Sovereign Lake Nordic Club is a not-for-profit ski club with more than 3,200 members operating within the Silver Star Provincial Park near Vernon, on the traditional, unceded territory of the Syilx/Okanagan People.
Sovereign Lake is the first ski area in Canada to make a commitment to help end working poverty, by paying all its staff and contracted workers a living wage. A living wage is the hourly amount a family needs to cover basic expenses. The calculation is based on a two-parent family with two children – the most common family unit in B.C. – with each parent working full-time.
“In placing our employees’ health and financial stability front and centre, we help to build long term sustainable employment opportunities for our community, while reducing training costs in this traditional high staff turnover industry. With an 80% annual return rate of our employees, it helps maintain a friendly and familiar atmosphere for our members and guests….By meeting and exceeding these minimum benchmarks for a living wage, we are creating a strong team more akin to a family than just a job”
- Troy Hudson, Sovereign Lake Nordic Club
Okanagan Bioregion Food System Project
The project explores the economic, environmental stewardship, and food self-reliance potentials of a more regionalized food system in the Okanagan.
Photo: Lindsay Peltz/Okanagan Bioregion Food System Project
A new study suggests the Okanagan could meet most of its food needs by increasing local production.
The study by Surrey's Kwantlen Polytechnic University says regionalizing food systems can be a driver of sustainable community development and the basis for resilient local and regional economies and ecologies.
“Food systems cannot be separated from other planning and development activities. We need to recognize the inextricably linked nature of food systems and adopt a ‘food systems lens’ in all our planning activities,” says Dr. Kent Mullinix, director of the Institute for Sustainable Food Systems.
“Regionalizing our food systems by producing food closer to home, bringing the economic activity home to local communities, and having more control over our own food system through local policies, can help address some of these issues.”
The three-year Okanagan Bioregion Food System Project focused on farming and food systems in the Okanagan.
Other findings included:
Developing regional food systems can have economic benefits for the bioregion. These benefits are maximized when investments are made in the development of food processing, distribution and storage infrastructure.
Increasing the consumption of locally produced food does not reduce the environmental impacts associated with the food system, but changing diets does. When it comes to ecological footprint and greenhouse gas emissions, how food is produced, and the resources required, matter more than where it is produced.
Moccasin Trails and Indigenous World Winery Selected to Receive Indigenous Tourism Grants
WestJet and the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada (ITAC) are providing nine, $10,000 grants to Indigenous tourism businesses across Canada, including two Thompson Okanagan Indigenous tourism businesses: Moccasin Trails and Indigenous World Winery.
WestJet and the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada (ITAC) are providing nine, $10,000 grants to Indigenous tourism businesses across Canada that have been devastated by the shutdown of the tourism industry due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The grants were originally earmarked through the WestJet/ITAC strategic national partnership, signed in November 2019.
Congratulations to the Thompson Okanagan Recipients of the 2020/2021 WestJet/ITAC grants!
Moccasin Trails: Kamloops
Indigenous World Winery: Kelowna
The grant recipients will be spotlighted on WestJet’s social channels and its newsroom over the next year.
The recipients of these grants were given the news in March 2021 and their reactions were captured in a new WestJet/ITAC video. The video features Robert & Bernice Louie of Indigenous World Winery and Greg Hopf of Moccasin Trails.
The WestJet/ITAC strategic national partnership is a three-year commitment that outlines how the airline will foster opportunities for Indigenous tourism by showcasing Indigenous People’s culture and history while bringing global audiences to take part in Indigenous tourism experiences.
For the full listing of the grant recipients, visit westjet.com/en-ca/best-of-travel/indigenous-tourism.
For more information about Indigenous experiences across Canada, visit DestinationIndigenous.ca